Anger, confusion, and a sense of betrayal spread among countless shinobi.
Meanwhile, at Konoha's training grounds, the atmosphere was far more delicate.
"Sakura… how can you be like this…" Naruto Uzumaki couldn't help turning toward the young Haruno Sakura standing beside him.
Sasuke Uchiha frowned as well. He glanced at the heavenly curtain, then sideways at the Sakura next to him.
He wasn't as emotionally direct as Naruto—but the faintly superior tone of the Sakura within the curtain instinctively irritated him.
It felt like… he was being regarded as something insignificant.
An ant.
Yet the reaction of the young Sakura—now being stared at by the future's two central figures—was entirely unexpected.
She stared blankly at the poised, composed version of herself in the curtain. The one who faced three top-tier powerhouses without fear, even subtly controlling the flow of the conversation.
Then—
Her large emerald eyes lit up with dazzling brilliance.
"S-So cool!!!"
She clenched her small fists, her cheeks flushing with excitement as she whispered to herself, unable to suppress the admiration in her voice:
"The future me… is so powerful… and so captivating!!"
She completely ignored the matter of "stance." Ignored the accusation of "betrayal."
All she saw was that overwhelming strength and commanding presence.
That figure standing at the center of the world's truth, yet seeming above it all, carved itself deeply into her young heart.
Wasn't that version of herself… even more worthy?
Within the Heavenly Curtain
Sakura paid no heed to the mixture of shock, anger, and incomprehension on Naruto, Sasuke, and Neji's faces.
She simply shook her head lightly, as if sighing at their narrow perspective.
"The reason you see me this way—thinking I've betrayed you, or that I'm looking down on you…" her voice was calm, steady, "is because your understanding limits your vision."
"You're already very strong. You possess extraordinary eyes. You've even touched part of the world's 'truth'…"
Her gaze passed over Naruto, then Sasuke, then Neji.
"So why are your eyes—your thoughts—still fixated solely on this world?"
The phrase carried a distinct boundary.
The three of them stiffened.
Naruto's pupils shrank.
"So… you've been to other worlds?!" he blurted out.
The idea was so shocking that his voice came out hoarse.
"Isn't that obvious?" Sakura gave a faint laugh. There was a trace of finally, you've asked the right question in her expression—but it only made her seem more distant.
"I already said we're 'invaders.' If we invaded, then naturally we came from other worlds. Did you think these systems simply grew out of thin air here?"
Neji's face had grown deathly pale.
"So people from other worlds… can simply enter at will? Like pushing open a door?"
He thought of Wangcai—the strange yellow dog that could nullify chakra.
Of Karin's entirely different power.
Of Sakura and the Divine Knights behind her.
If all of it came from beyond this world… then to higher-dimensional beings, was the shinobi world nothing more than an unguarded courtyard?
Sakura said nothing.
She merely nodded.
That silent confirmation weighed more than a thousand words.
Their faces grew even grimmer.
A deeper sense of helplessness seized them.
They had fought desperately for the fate of the world—
Yet they didn't even know where the invaders came from.
Or how they arrived.
On a broader scale, their world had long been wide open.
Naruto opened his mouth to press further—
But Sakura shook her head slightly, as if already knowing what he intended to ask.
He swallowed the question and changed course.
"Then… what did you see? In those other worlds?"
For the first time, something other than calm detachment appeared in Sakura's eyes.
A clear longing.
"Many things," she said softly, as if recalling distant memories. "Different worlds. Different power systems. Some so weak it was laughable—yet capable of creating weapons that could destroy entire worlds."
She tilted her head upward slightly, as though she could see beyond the shinobi sky into those magnificent and dangerous realms.
"And different kinds of powerhouses. Compared to them, so-called 'Kage-level' or 'Six Paths-level' strength is only the beginning."
Her gaze returned to the three before her.
There was something complex in her eyes.
"That was when I realized… this world is too small."
She paused, choosing her words carefully.
"Believe me, Naruto. Sasuke. Neji. When you've witnessed that vastness—its grandeur and its cruelty—with your own eyes…"
"Your thoughts will change too. You'll understand how narrow it is to cling to the gains and losses of a single world."
Sasuke's eyes darkened.
"If even a world is narrow… then what about clinging to a single village? A single clan?"
"No." Naruto shook his head. His voice wasn't loud—but it was unwavering.
"No matter how much I see. No matter how small and insignificant this world turns out to be… I won't become like you."
"I'll make this world better. I'll make it strong enough to stand proudly among the worlds you speak of—not abandon it."
Neji said nothing.
But the resolve in his eyes and the firmness in his posture made his stance clear.
Sakura looked at them without anger.
She only shook her head again, as though looking at stubborn children who had yet to grow up.
"Naruto… do you know what your biggest problem is?"
Her tone carried faint emotion.
"You're nothing like the bright, cheerful boy who once shouted about becoming Hokage."
Her gaze seemed to pierce through the darker, hardened Naruto before her—back to a more distant past.
"But…"
Her voice shifted, that faint warmth replaced by subtle, almost helpless mockery.
"You still make promises so easily—without ever examining whether they're possible, or what price they'll require."
"That flaw of yours…"
"Hasn't changed at all."
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